Please Help-1st Alaska cruise

[hotrock]

Am doing a 7 day Southbound from Seward to Vancouver. Where should I spend the night in Ancorage? How should I get to the port? Any must see sights before I board?

[JimAOk1945]

We sailed on the Royal Caribbean Radiance of the Seas last August on the southbound route. We loved it! We had four ports of call, Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway and Icy Strait Point located in the Alaskan town of Hoonah.

 

When we booked the cruise, we arranged to have transfers through RC and I'm glad we did. We didn't have any trouble at all. Some people arrange to take a train transfer to Seward. We chose to take a bus transfer. Both will drop you off at the embarkation point at Seward.

 

When we flew into Anchorage, we asked for the RC representative. We were directed to a kiosk where the friendly RC staff checked us off their list, and then told us when the next bus was leaving for Seward. I think we had about a one hour wait.

 

We grabbed a quick bite to eat at the food court, then went back to the waiting area at the RC desk. When the bus arrived, we got in along with several other people and the driver loaded up all the baggage.

 

I'm not sure how long the drive was but it seemed to pass quickly. The scenery was fantastic and the driver gave information about what we were seeing from time to time.

 

Before we knew it, we had arrived at the Seward terminal. The Radiance was the only ship there! Check in at the terminal was a breeze. We walked right in, went up to the counter to check in, and went right on to the ship where we had our embarkation picture taken.

 

The quickest embarkation we have ever had!

 

The ship is fantastic and the cruise was the best we have ever had. The itinerary includes 4 ports of call. Icy Strait Point was and still is our favorite. We went on the Bear and Whale watch combo excursion through RC. We saw two bears catching Salmon and countless whales! It was absolutely breathtaking!

 

When we went through the Hubbard Glacier area, we witnessed numerous "calving" which is when great chunks of ice break off with loud cracking and rumbling then fall into the water.

 

I could go on and on. As you can see, even now I get excited just thinking about it and trying to describe what we saw.

 

We went in August and had beautiful weather all week, even in Ketchikan where it usually rains so much. We had sunny weather all day!

 

At the end of the cruise, going through the Vancouver terminal was no trouble at all. We also had a transfer through the cruise line that took us to the Vancouver airport.

 

You might be interested in seeing my wife's picture slideshows. Here is a link to the page where you will see slideshows about the different ports of call as well as the ship.

 

The slideshow will start when you click on the link, but you can also go through the pictures if you want to by clicking on the thumbnails one at a time. The slide show features pictures around the ship as well as our shore excursions. We booked all of our excursions through RC online.

 

2012 RC Radiance of the Seas ~ Alaska Southbound

 

HAPPY SAILING! It's a great way to explore Alaska!

Edited December 5, 2013 by JimAOk1945

[hotrock]

Thanks a million. Love the enthusiasm. I am really excited about this trip and will definitely call about the transfers and check out the bear and whale watch. It sounds fabulous. I really appreciate the slideshow as well.

[Budget Queen]

Am doing a 7 day Southbound from Seward to Vancouver. Where should I spend the night in Ancorage? How should I get to the port? Any must see sights before I board?

 

My opinion only, but Alaska is not the place to be in any rush to get on the ship. :) One option is to take the Alaska RR, to Seward and then, tour Seward. Take advantage of being there. :)

 

A jackpot for varied wildlife, is a Kenai Fjords boat tour, needing at least 6 hours on the water. The boat companies, pick up at the depot and store your luggage.

[mapleleaves]

To reach Seward you can take the Alaska Railroad, Park Connection Bus, Seward Bus lines. Or do a one-way car rental with Hertz and enjoy the sights and scenery between Anchorage and Seward. It's a 3 hr drive but can easily take a full day with stops .... pan for gold, visit the Wildlife Conservation Center, ride the tram at Alyeska resort, and stop at Exit Glacier just outside of Seward.

http://www.alaska.org/things-to-do/scenic-drives

 

Look at the STICKY at the top of the page called '2013 Alaska cruise review list'. Reply #45 has all the trip reports grouped by cruiseline so it's a great place to read about other travelers experiences.

[Budget Queen]

To reach Seward you can take the Alaska Railroad, Park Connection Bus, Seward Bus lines. Or do a one-way car rental with Hertz and enjoy the sights and scenery between Anchorage and Seward. It's a 3 hr drive but can easily take a full day with stops .... pan for gold, visit the Wildlife Conservation Center, ride the tram at Alyeska resort, and stop at Exit Glacier just outside of Seward.

http://www.alaska.org/things-to-do/scenic-drives

 

Look at the STICKY at the top of the page called '2013 Alaska cruise review list'. Reply #45 has all the trip reports grouped by cruiseline so it's a great place to read about other travelers experiences.

 

Also add a stop of Portage Glacier visitor center. :)

[hotrock]

Any recommendations as far as a hotel in anchorage?

[tc2344]

Am doing a 7 day Southbound from Seward to Vancouver. Where should I spend the night in Ancorage? How should I get to the port? Any must see sights before I board?

 

HotRock, thank you for posting this, we are also planning a 7 day Southbound from Seward, but we are looking at 2015. I am interested in what others will be posting in response to your question. I have already noted Budget Queens advice not to hurry & considering 2-3 precruise stays between Anchorage & Seward.

[tc2344]

Am doing a 7 day Southbound from Seward to Vancouver. Where should I spend the night in Ancorage? How should I get to the port? Any must see sights before I board?

 

HotRock, thank you for posting this, we are also planning a 7 day Southbound from Seward, but we are looking at 2015. I am interested in what others will be posting in response to your question. I have already noted Budget Queens advice not to hurry & considering 2-3 precruise stays between Anchorage & Seward.

[olemissreb]

We were on the Southbound Celebrity Millennium (before the propulsion problems). In Anchorage, we stayed at the Embassy Suites hotel. We used my husbands Hilton Honors points so it was free to us. We loved it because of the free cooked to order breakfast and the manager's reception in the evenings. Plus, the 2 room suite allowed my husband and I to be in one room watching tv while the kids were in the other room watching their own tv.

 

We took the hotel shuttle to the train station and took the Alaska Railroad to Seward the day before embarking on the ship. OMG - you have to get up at the crack of dawn, but the train ride was so beautiful and so relaxing. We enjoyed breakfast on the train as well as a couple of mimosas. :)

 

When we got to Seward, we took a Kenai Fjords tour which was just spectacular!!!!!! Afterwards, we stayed at the Holiday Inn right there at the boat harbor. The day of embarkation, we took a taxi to the SeaLife Center and toured there as well as had a behind the scenes Mammal Encounter. Soooooooooooo cool! When we finally went to board the ship, it was about 2pm and there was absolutely no one in line.

 

Couple things we discovered that I hadn't seen posted here - the railroad has agreements with some of the hotels in Seward so that they will deliver your luggage to your hotel if you are going on a tour or if you just want to explore before heading to your hotel. Very convenient! The other thing was that for a small fee (can't remember what it was now) the Holiday Inn will have your luggage delivered to the ship for you so you don't have to worry about returning to the hotel to pick up luggage after any tours.

 

As BudgetQueen said - don't rush to get on the ship. One thing I will probably do differently next time is to get to Seward a couple days before embarkation so I can explore all the things I didn't get to do this past summer. I would like to explore the town a little more and get out to Exit Glacier and probably take another Kenai Fjords cruise as well as another behind the scenes encounter at the SeaLife Center.

 

Enjoy your time in Alaska - we sure did! My mom still talks about what a great adventure it was!

[cassamanda]

We plan to arrive in Anchorage early AM around Aug 22, 2014 for 7 days pre cruise touring DIY by rental car from Hertz. This would include travelling north to Denali (2 days accomm at Healy), overnight Talkeetna, overnight Matanuska area then overnight Anchorage prior to driving or training to Seward.

Planned to arrive Seward on 27th for 2 days prior to boarding Radiance of the Seas on Aug 29. Following this we spend 10 days in Canada.

 

Thought we had our itinerary all basically worked out but when we went to book our Seward activities, found out that the longer cruises into Kenai NP finish up on Aug 24:mad: with some individual dates when we are not there.

This was confirmed by email to Major Marine.

We also wanted to do a half to full day Kayaking with Millers Landing as they have good prices and options.

What to do?

1. Continue with plan and just do the 6 hour cruise with MM on 27 or 28th then Kayak the other day with final day visiting the SeaLife Centre etc. before boarding, or

2. On day 1 travel by train to connect with a MM cruise of PWS. Want to see both wildlife and up close Tidewater glaciers, so not sure which of there tours is best for this but both connect with train both ways, then continue north on day 2, or

3 Do just Kayaking on PWS and still do the MM 6 hour cruise of Kenai NP.

The advantage (i believe) of doing activities on PWS is calmer waters as DW sometimes is prone to seasickness.

 

We are able to arrive earlier by a day or two into Anchorage. Nothing is booked at this time just have been emailing for dates and availability.

 

Travelling all the way to Fairbanks is also an option via the Glenn Hwy then down to Denali, Anchorage, Seward etc as DW commented that travelling up and down the same road to Denali seems to be duplicating our efforts and she also wants to see some of the back country. We are very familiar with long distance road travel.

As I said we can add days pre cruise.

 

Also noted that many of the 2 for 1 tour saver options are not available in 2014:mad:

 

I realise that opinions are subjective but we would appreciate any help or comment to aide us in finalising our plans.

 

Thanks, Hugh

Edited December 19, 2013 by cassamanda

[Courtmatt]

While we were in Seward we hiked Exit Glacier with Exit Glacier Guides. It was a very physical climb to the glacier, but it was so worth it. The guides were fantastic and we got many great pictures. This was our favorite excursion of our 2 weeks. Our two kids, 18 and 22, also hiked with us and they talk about it all the time. This was awesome.

 

We also did the Kenai Fjords wildlife cruise which was fantastic too. We would do both of these again if we get the chance.